


when time takes too much time

by orphan_account



Series: Eisner Award for Best Writer and Artist [1]
Category: Captain America (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-25
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weaving through the crowd, Steve tries not to smile like an idiot. He's actually looking forward to this. James Barnes seems like an interesting person, and if he turns out to be as much of a dick in real life as he comes off through email and his infamous way of interacting with fans, Steve can always punch him in the face and call it a day.</p><p>(The AU where Steve is an artist and Bucky is a comics writer, and Vertigo hires them to work on <i>Hellblazer</i>.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	when time takes too much time

**Author's Note:**

> okay, a little more context might be necessary, since this isn't actually the first story set in this 'verse. I wrote a weird, short [thing](http://roboclaws.tumblr.com/post/40119426483/a-wild-ficlet-appears). then haipollai wrote another [thing](http://haipollai.tumblr.com/post/40149828946/ficlet-steve-bucky-help-this-verse-is-growing). then I did a [thing](http://roboclaws.tumblr.com/post/40212312690/moar-comics-writer-bucky-yep) again, and _then_ haipollai did [this](http://haipollai.tumblr.com/post/41418298496/ficlet-steve-bucky-a-little-bit-more-comicwriter). it's hard to say who is at fault here, but man, this AU is addictive.
> 
> title from Moloko.

Steve has ideas — he'd be hard pressed not to — about James Barnes. They've been working together for more than a year (forty-nine issues, and a few weeks of back and forth about character design changes; James was very adamant that in every panel where John Constantine's trench coat had a shadow, it should be wings or tentacles or something creepy like that), but Steve couldn't say he really knows James. They're colleagues, at best. Steve has a lot of respect for the man who steadfastly refuses to be dragged into mainstream comics; he knows very well just how toxic and unpleasant the industry can be, and he's not sure James' hair-trigger temper would be a good fit with the Big Two editorial brigades.

Weaving through the crowd, he tries not to smile like an idiot. He's actually looking forward to this. James seems like an interesting person, at least, and if he turns out to be as much of a dick in real life as he comes off through email and his infamous way of interacting with fans, Steve can always punch him in the face and call it a day.

And to be honest, he knows all about giving the wrong first impression. When Vertigo first approached him about maybe doing a couple issues of _House of Mystery_ and Steve turned out not to be some stoner Hieronymus Bosch wannabe? Yeah, he remembers the shocked silence and awkward excuses. 'Expected someone with a little more attitude,' one of the editors said, cringing apologetically.

'Expected someone whose personality matched their sick, sick brain,' Steve knows she really wanted to say.

So he's looking forward to meeting James, finally, even if he's not expecting miracles or anything. They probably won't be best friends, but Steve will be okay as long as meeting like this won't actually _harm_ their working relationship. As long as James isn't anything like Millar or Miller, though, Steve doesn't think it should.

It's ten minutes to the panel when he makes it to the conference room, and then another five minutes go by when a few people recognise him and ask him to sign stuff. Steve's right hand is already sore from the commissions he's done this morning, but he doesn't care. There is something amazing about connecting with complete strangers like this, knowing his work — _his work_ — touched something in other human beings.

He just hopes it didn't give them nightmares, but all the con attendees he talks to are smiling and happy and ask interesting questions, so Steve guesses he's safe on that front. They probably only know him from his recent stuff, and not from what he's done with Oni Press.

When James doesn't show up, Steve gives up and goes in to take his seat at the panel table. His place is marked with his name, and that's kind of cool, it makes him feel like a big-name artist. The chair next to his is meant for James, so when a guy just comes up and sits there, Steve turns to him and starts, 'Hey, sorry, that's reserved for —'

'Yeah,' the guy says. He's scruffy, and handsome in a way that his being unshaved and kind of annoyed-looking doesn't take away from it. 'It's reserved for me.'

Steve blinks. 'James?'

'Oh, Christ,' he says, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. 'Don't call me that, you're not my mother. Call me Bucky.'

'I — sure.' Steve clears his throat. 'Steve Rogers. Nice to finally meet you, I guess.'

James — _Bucky_ looks up at him. 'I…thought you were smaller,' he admits, giving Steve a frank once-over.

'I thought you were older,' Steve counters. They look at each other for a beat, and then Bucky cracks a smile. It's a nice smile, and it provides stark contrast to Bucky's otherwise pretty stormy disposition. Steve doesn't want to be impressed, but really, it's out of his hands. Bucky Barnes is a charming storm cloud, and it's surprising, but mostly it's _nice_.

~

'I have a question for James,' says someone from the back row. The panel isn't exactly packed, but Steve can't see the guy anyway. 'Obviously I really love what you've done with John Constantine, it's really great, but I was wondering about the narrative device you used in the, um, Season of Winter storyline? I mean, it's told from all these different perspectives with everyone being an unreliable narrator and I was wondering if you were going for, like, a _Rashoumon_ or a _Usual Suspects_ kind of thing? Because I remember you've done that before in _Department X_ , so would you say it's part of your style, like a theme you like coming back to?'

Steve turns to Bucky, curious.

'I guess,' Bucky says, shrugging.

Steve can see one of the editors looking like she wants to put her face in her hands.

~

Anonymous asked: _hi james, love your work on hb! really brought the series back from a low place. i especially loved that you introduced or reintroduced a lot of john's supporting cast that got forgotten. i've seen some people saying john being bisexual was a stupid one-time 90s thing. any thoughts on that?_

I have thoughts. They're many and myriad. For example, "I'm pretty sure a sociopathic cat peed in my coffee." Or, "I wonder how many entitled nerds it takes to change a lightbulb?" You know, important stuff.

I also used to think idiots on the Internet who cultivated their idiocy through overexposure to LIEFEEEEEEEELD!!!! were a one-time 90s thing, so maybe we're on to something here. Some things just have a tendency to stick around.

Also, and this is very important, children: if you ever see the artist known as Steve Rogers draw a pouch, you have my official blessing to punch him square in the jaw. (If you're reading this, Steve, know that if you ever draw a pouch or an anatomically offensive spine, I will hunt you down and cut you. They won't ever find the body. I have contacts.)

_Posted on June 7 with 56 notes_

~

kafkainlove asked: _Is there even the remotest possibility of you working for the Big 2? I think anything you would have to say in the superhero genre would be cool._

My standard list of demands remains: money, blow, a Luger and enough whisky to fill an Olympic swimming pool. If and when either Wayne or Stark Comics are willing to meet my writerly needs, I'm there.

_Posted on June 7 with 40 notes_

~

Anonymous asked: _Any advice for aspiring comics writers?_

Just don't.

_Posted on June 7 with 89 notes_

~

So when does Steve fall in love? He's not sure, be it when or be it why. He never expected anything like that to happen, but to be honest, Bucky Barnes isn't exactly the kind of person you expect, ever.

Sometimes it seems like Bucky is a human equivalent of a grumpy cat macro, like when he throws himself on the bed and covers his head with a pillow and moans, 'Just let me die, Rogers. I'm ready to die.' The thing for Steve to do then is to climb into bed with Bucky and grab the pillow before he manages to strangle himself by accident or something; the thing to do then is to sigh dramatically as Bucky hisses at sunlight and tell him that no, he can't die and leave Steve to make excuses to their editors.

Other times he's more than a little heartbreaking, with dark bruises under his eyes and a cigarette hanging from his mouth and his reading glasses sliding down his nose, hunched over his laptop with the blueish light from the screen giving his skin an unhealthy pallor. There's nothing dignified about the writing process. Bucky once tells Steve he actually kind of hates it, hates having to stay inside his own head long enough to get the words out — and Steve gets it, he does, there is a reason why his art invariably gets called disturbing and dark and borderline unhinged.

'This shit is nothing like opening a vein,' Bucky says at those times, slumped down with his head on the desk, the laptop screen dark. 'It just makes me _want_ to open my veins. I need a fucking drink.'

But Steve thinks the moment he falls in love, or at least realises he's been falling in love ever since that panel at San Diego Comic Con, is this:

~

'I want to write something for you,' Bucky says. He's propped up on his elbows, watching Steve with a fondly affectionate smile.

Steve is straddling his hips, drawing god even knows what over Bucky's stomach and chest with a sharpie. Bucky already has a couple tattoos, one on the inside of his left bicep and another low on his abdomen, and Steve is getting his resolve together to ask him if he'd like to get something of Steve's inked. He could draw tattoo designs for Bucky and never, ever stop.

Now, he lifts his head. 'What, like a love letter?'

'Sure, Jane Austen, that is exactly what I was thinking about.' Bucky rolls his eyes. 'I mean a book, you asshole. Like one of those pretentious creator-owned projects. Just us, and the best goddamn story we can tell.'

Steve caps the sharpie and leans back. 'You know the best goddamn story we can tell would give people serious trauma,' he says, because it's true. He's read some of Bucky's unpublished stick-it-in-the-drawer-and-never-let-it-see-the-light-of-day stuff, and Bucky's seen some of the work Steve's done when he's let himself go.

'Fuck them,' Bucky says, shrugging with one arm. At Steve's unimpressed look, he drops down on the bed. Oh, avoiding eye contact. That can't be good; out of all of Bucky's quirks about personal space and touching and communication, avoiding eye contact is pretty high on the list of warning signs. 'It's just that,' Bucky starts, and sighs. He swallows. 'It's just, I wanna do something good with you before, y'know. Before Wayne or Stark grab you and you find someone better.'

'What,' says Steve.

'You know what.' If he weren't pinned to the bed, Steve has a feeling Bucky would start pacing. Instead, he runs his hands through his hair and sighs again. 'They'll give you someone good, one of the big names, and you'll see what it's like to work with a competent writer.'

For a moment, Steve considers just rolling his eyes, but he knows this matters, this is important. It's something self-evident to Steve, but not to Bucky, and so it's important. Steve is pretty sure that's how adult relationships work, anyway.

'All right,' he says, 'one, I already did things for Wayne Comics. And buddy, I'll be kinda pissed if you haven't even read my resume.'

'Jesus, of course I read your resume,' Bucky mutters.

'So you know I did things for Wayne. They're not the Holy Grail for me. I mean — if they pay then why not, but I'm fine where I am. I do what I like, and we both know the farther from mainstream we are, the more freedom we got. So that's one. And two, do you seriously think, even if I worked with another writer, I wouldn't come back to you like a — like a lovesick spaniel?'

Bucky snorts.

Steve doesn't, because he didn't mean to say that _at all_ , but now that he did he realises it's true. It's true, he wouldn't mind working with other writers, but he'll always come back to Bucky.

'Jesus, don't you get it yet?' he asks, feeling a little dizzy with the realisation (that's the moment, that's it). 'You're it for me.'

Bucky stops smiling and looks up at him. 'You're serious.'

'As a goddamn heart attack.'

Bucky bites his lip and keeps watching Steve, like he's waiting for Steve to tell him he's joking, in which case Steve is okay with waiting him out. Eventually, though, Bucky reaches up to slide his hand to the back of Steve's neck, and pulls him down, pulls him close.

'Me too,' he says, and the relief Steve feels then is so unexpected and so huge and so _everything_ he just laughs, and then he's laughing against Bucky's mouth as Bucky draws him in and kisses him.

~

 **Stark Entertainment** @Stark  
And it's official: the Stark NOW! relaunch of Secret Avengers will be headlined by team James Barnes  & Steve Rogers. Excited? We sure are!

~

flapsinthenight asked: _Hi Steve! Your redesigns of the Secret Avengers costumes are super badass, just wanted to let you know. Which one is your favourite? How about a fav character? I heard that JB's is Black Widow and he really wanted her on the team. Did you have a character you wanted included too?_

Hi, & thank you for the kind words. We had ultimately free reign with the designs, so the experience was very interesting.

I put equal amount of work into each of these so it's difficult to pick just one, but if I had to choose I would probably have to go with the Winter Soldier. I had input in his original design, & I looked forward to coming back to him. Eli Bradley is not the same person he was during the original Winter Soldier arc, and his design changes reflect that: we're still showcasing his left arm as his signature, but the colour scheme of his uniform is different and he's back to the domino mask. But he's well on his way to redemption. I think it's important that we see it in the way he's portrayed visually, not just the way he's written.

And now it's probably pretty obvious that Eli is my favourite? He is. Well, he and Isaiah, but Isaiah will only be co-starring in SA so picking him as my favourite would be cheating. I tried to talk Stark editorial into including him in the team roster, but I think they're right, since the movies came out Isaiah Bradley has become a much bigger name and he's already appearing as team leader in NA, AA and his own ongoing, & a lot of the SA storylines we have planned out require the characters to be more dedicated to one team, and a very specific one at that. But I'm okay with him being a supporting character here, because it means Eli can be a team leader which is an important part of his character development. Inside sources (guess who!) tell me Isaiah and Eli will have a lot of meaningful interaction too, and I think that's great.

It is true that Yelena is James' favourite, and it is true that he fought Stark to have her on the team. She has been another success thanks to the movies, and everyone agrees that the best thing that could happen to her already is: they're pushing her to be included in more books to make up for the past few years, when she had been sidelined. James already has about forty-seven separate pitches for a Black Widow solo title, but we'll see about that. Feel free to bug him for details, he loves talking about his fanboy crush on Yelena.

Hope that answers all your questions, but don't hesitate to ask if it doesn't. Thanks again!

_Posted on Aug 18 with 174 notes_


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